Page 3679 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 27 October 2015
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provided to owners of eligible impacted properties who purchase their block through the first right of refusal after demolition.
The Electricity Feed-in (Renewable Energy Premium) Act 2008 was amended earlier this year to allow owners of affected properties to transfer the premium rate afforded to them under this act to their new home so that they would not be disadvantaged in regard to the feed-in tariff by selling their property to the territory through the buyback program. Again, amendments here to the bill seek to grant that same ability to transfer the tariff for owners who participate in the eligible impacted property buyback program. In addition to enabling home owners to maintain their existing tariff rate, this also encourages the use of solar energy which, in turn, has a very positive impact on the environment.
Lastly, the amendments to the bill propose changes to the Tax Administration Regulation 2004 to enable the Asbestos Response Taskforce to access information relating to ownership of the eligible impacted property. This provision is already in operation in relation to ownership information for affected properties, and access to this information enables the task force to contact property owners where it is particularly important in the circumstances where the owners do not reside at the property.
The amendments to the bill are proposed with a view to ensuring that eligible impacted properties are treated equitably with affected properties, and these changes proposed simply replicate the legislative changes that have already been made for affected properties or that are contained in the bill.
The passage of the bill, with these amendments, will assist our community in moving on from the Mr Fluffy legacy by smoothly progressing the buyback, the demolition and the sale of blocks so that new houses can be built quickly and that local neighbourhoods can return to normal.
In closing, I am advised that the amendments were considered by the scrutiny committee in their report No 38. They noted the amendments and provided no comment. I hope that comprehensive explanation of the amendments I move today will satisfy all in this place that this is an appropriate way forward. I urge members to support these amendments.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (6.09): These amendments, as the Chief Minister has outlined, cover properties that are impacted by loose-fill asbestos whether they be sharing a roof with an affected property or sharing a floor or subfloor with an affected property. Unfortunately it has come to light that a number of houses did not even have Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos installed directly but are in a situation whereby it is almost impossible to stop the asbestos particles moving into them, and so, therefore, they will also need to be demolished. When the houses are structurally co-dependent, it seems, sadly, there is little else that can be done.
These amendments create the category of eligible impacted property to cover these situations across a range of legislative areas. Relevant amendments have been introduced into the Building Act, the Building and Construction Industry Training
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